Today’s post is the first in an ongoing series compiling links related to news from in and around the US South. We hope these posts will provide space for lively discussion and debate regarding issues of importance to those living in and intellectually engaging with the US South. Without further ado, The Bulletin.

The recently passed amendment to North Carolina’s state constitution which defines marriage as "between one man and one woman" has brought the issue of equal rights for same-sex couples into the center of the national political arena over the last couple of weeks.

Cindy Chang offers an overview of how legislators and lobbyists have encouraged the growth of the state’s prison population through financial incentives over the last two decades, causing Louisiana to become the world leader in incarceration.

The Charlotte Observer and the Latin American Herald-Tribune offer overviews of the case and how local groups and United States Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-Illinois) have rallied around Gabino Sanchez, a 27-year-old construction and landscape worker from rural Ridgeland, South Carolina.